Making Slobber Straps
Making slobber straps an easy way to make useful horse gear.
As far as I can tell, starting colts in a snaffle bit is by far the most common method people use today. Snaffle bits are a good piece of equipment to use on colts for a few reasons. First, the bit can be very helpful to teach lateral flexion. Lateral flexion is a big goal lots of people have when working with young horses. Another big benefit of the snaffle bit is not a leverage bit. It has a 1-to-1 pull ratio. That means that if you pull with 5 pounds of pressure on the bit, the horse feels 5 pounds of pressure on the corner of its mouth. Another big goal many colt starters have is to keep the colt’s mouth soft and sensitive. This can be more easily accomplished by riding with soft hands in a relatively forgiving bit. A snaffle can still be harsh, but you have to pull almost deliberately hard.
Snaffle bits are also very simple. The basic technology requires the rider to develop softness with feel, timing, and balance. A better feel can be developed by sending clear signals. One way to enhance your snaffle bit and send more clear signals is by adding a pair of slobber straps.
Slobber straps are nothing more than leather that drapes over the ring in the snaffle. They are most necessary for people who ride with mecate but can be used by anybody. You probably know that a mecate is a type of rein made from one continuous length of rope. The mecate can be wrapped around the slobber strap to attach it to the snaffle bit. In addition to allowing a mecate to be attached, slobber straps also have a big advantage because they add weight to the ring of the snaffle. Adding this little bit of weight can be helpful to improve the clarity of your signal. As you pull on the snaffle, the bit will engage the horse’s mouth. When the horse feels the pressure it should yield. Once the horse yields, the pressure should be released. Here is where the slobber straps come in handy. When you release the pressure, the added weight of the slobber strap falls more crisply than if the rein we attached to the ring in the snaffle.
When it comes to making slobber straps, they really are about as easy a project as you can get. You can use many different types of leather, and traditionally old latigos were a popular choice. In the video linked below, I used 9 oz veg tan so I could do some stamping and dying. Once you have your leather, you basically need to cut it to the shape you desire, do any tooling, and create a few holes for the mecate. Slobber straps really are that simple. Of course, you can make them as ornate as you want and dress them up however you’d like. Personally, I do like the basket stamping.
Here is a video showing the process if you’d like to take a look.
At the end of the day, making slobber straps is an easy project that can create a useful piece of equipment if you ride in a snaffle bit. They are functional and help create better communication with our horses. In the end, I think that’s something many of us are trying to do just a little bit better.